PhantomStranger

He was surprising, but if you don't nail each obstacle with technical precision it's over.

fumanstan

Agreed, I enjoy watching the competitors but there's so much filter that I get kind of bored with it. And yet, they still manage to get me by teasing certain competitors. Damn TV people know how to fool me

PhantomStranger

This show would get better ratings with better editors.

d2cheer

One thing I would wish is let everyone know specifically who the "wildcards" are.

Spiderbite

I fast forward thru everything but the actual run. I don't give a shit about the background stories and I don't give a shit about them explaining why they fell. I know why they fell. I just watched it. Plus their chick on the sidelines is beyond terrible and I have to FF it everytime she even looks like she is going to open her mouth.

I just wish they would show everyone's runs and leave it at that. I know they want to give viewers the "human element" but I am sure there are many out there like me who just want to see the runs.

The only good thing about it is I can watch a two hour episode in about 45 minutes or less after skipping all the fluff and commercials.

philo

I do the same thing. My thumb has gotten such a workout from the skip button I might be able to tackle some of those climbing obstacles.

PhantomStranger

It came back last night, I'm sure NBC is intensely disappointed that Kacy didn't make it to the next round. In fact, the entire show was disappointing with so many losses from established favorites. That new arm hang slider looks like a very tricky obstacle for anyone approaching 200 pounds.

DRG

I'm curious if they're forced to use the standard technique for the Spider Jump or if they're allowed to improvise. It seems like her only hope would be to try to wedge her whole body in sideways (hands on one wall, feet on the opposite wall) on the initial jump and then try to work her way up to the narrower bit to get into the correct spider stance for the rest of the obstacle.

cdollaz

Glad the long-haired, shirtless douche went out early. The girl at the end is likable enough, but I got really tired of hearing about her before every fucking commercial. They also mentioned something about the best times going last, so I assume they throw that out the window for her for television ratings purposes.

Bill Needle

Yeah that poor girl had no chance. It was kind of funny because she was able to (credit to the commentators) Van Damme her legs in there, but her arms were simply far too short to reach both sides. And even if her arms had reached, her legs were so fully extended that she would never have been able to move even if she had initially stuck the mount. Hell of an effort though.

Bill Needle

I think every commercial the previous episode hyped her as well. Yeah that was way over the top.

The best times reference was for round 2 of the final, but I don't doubt they shuffle the broadcast order of round 1 for maximum drama as well.

DRG

Even in the city finals things were edited out of order because Kacy's famous Dallas Finals run was near the end of the show, even though she only finished 21st in the Dallas qualifiers.

I sometimes wish they treated this more like a legit sporting event - air each 'episode' over a Sunday afternoon or something - but admittedly I don't know how much dead time there is resetting the course between competitors.

On that note, I did notice last night when one guy was doing the jumping spider you could see a worker already wiping down an earlier part of the course in the background. So I'm guessing they don't spend a *ton* of time between runs.

PhantomStranger

She would have to make a massive jump off the trampoline to get any farther down the enclosed space of the jumping spider. It doesn't really matter, she would have virtually zero shot at the warped wall on the Vegas course. It's a much more difficult obstacle in Vegas since there is no run-up and the incline on it requires actual vertical leaping ability. You can't really technique your way past that warped wall.

philo

It didn't look much narrower a few feet in so unless she has her arms stretched there's just no way. Maybe they'll alter the course next year.

So is next week the finale? They mentioned having stage 4 if it gets that far. I wonder if there's a break for the competitors between stages. That would be grueling doing those back to back.

PhantomStranger

They don't expect anyone to make stage 4, so next week is the finale.

DRG

That's probably the biggest problem I have with the pre-taped/edited approach for something like this... fifteen minutes left on the show and guys are still running stage 3. And you know if someone DID make stage 4 they would spoil it in promos before every commercial break...

"And later... for the first time on American Ninja Warrior, a competitor will make it to stage 4! Find out who makes history when American Ninja Warrior returns!"

PhantomStranger

NBC's promo department is absolutely terrible at spoiling things with their dumb hashtags and lead-ins.

NickWechsler

We have in no way seen this particular indicate or even understood precisely what it absolutely was regarding, but someone published the actual Kacy online video along with We had been transfixed.

cdollaz

Are you high?

DRG

I like that it's a challenge, but I wonder if they made stage 2 TOO hard with that rope jungle? I know they don't want it to be a cakewalk, but at the same time I think it's more fun if at least 5 or so people get to attempt stage 3.

Noonan

I think people just didn't give it enough respect. The few who paid attention and followed the correct path all got through fairly easily. It was the people who probably thought they didn't have to worry about it who got caught up and hung there for too long. The desired path was basically a straight shot to the end. I was hoping the weatherman would get through stage 3. The hippy looking rock climber was WAY too cocky going into stage 2. He had no one to blame but himself.

philo

Joe Morovsky's finish was a great moment. So exciting to see someone finally hook that platform and with the buzzer sounding, straining to lift those dividers, the thrill of just hitting the buzzer was amazing.

Tough to see Brian Arnold go out so early. You could see how devastated he was and this was something he quit his job to train for.

The break dancer getting caught up in the ropes was pretty funny. I think Akbar said he needs a real Tarzan to come out and save him.

NBC needs to cough up more prize money and maybe give the finishers of each stage a reward. It's such a difficult show. Should be a full million after taxes for anyone who completes this thing.

Looking forward to the big Team competition next week. Last year's was great.

lwhy?

They made it too hard this year. Brian Arnold also hosed himself by not hitting the stage 1 button until the last second. At this rate, I don't know if anyone is every going to finish. Maybe Levi needs to come out of retirement and make a comeback.

cdollaz

Who? Oh, you mean the B-boy.

cdollaz

Yep, one of the benefits to going later is to watch others and learn from their runs, and he cost himself the chance to do that.